They not bout the people
Don’t suffer like we do
Servin the master class
They Asses be see-through
Their answers be lethal
Though they don’t need to
Just shoot as they please
Be death without redo…

Got no reason to trust them
They commin to bust in
And don’t give a fuck
I’m professin or hustlin
Want us dead or in prison
Keep us in division
With surgical precision
They’ve made all their incisions
They come from slave patrols
And protect the capital
Of capitalism
And it’s all about control
Work to keep us at odds
& To keep us all poor
So when we’re workin for scraps
We won’t be askin for more
Union bustin for sure
COINTELPRO
They broke up the Black Panthers
propped up the Jim Crow
used dogs and fire hoses
red lines and bulldozers
paid snitches to roll us
plea bargains been sold us
gang units built and ensnare
Vietnam Vets to street warfare
they’ve been against our people
since before cobblestone roads
but they’re the closest thing to
government most of us will ever know

don’t give a shit
bout you or me
don’t give a shit
bout democracy
licensed to kill
dead in the street
Here’s what I think
FUCK THE POLICE!
don’t give a shit
bout you or me
don’t give a shit
bout democracy
licensed to kill
dead in the street
Here’s what I think
FUCK THE POLICE!

People wanna separate
Police from the state
and from corporations
Who function with no restraints
from politicians, prisons,
borders, immigration,
And imperialism
like each one is distinct
But the nature of a system’s
that they’re all interlinked
And they depend on each other
to keep everything succinct
which means the people are controlled
their code for this is order
labor producing products
The opposition’s slaughtered
F.B.I., C.I.A.,
N.S.A., they got us
Panopticon, they spot us
They spy’n us the hardest
Regardless, of the fact, that,
We are the people
we push the envelope
We scratch the needle
the essence of the state
is to guard itself from change
beyond whatever liberty
It supposedly claims
and this is why on the police
They don’t have any reigns
they can kill us daily
And not be put in chains

don’t give a shit
bout you or me
don’t give a shit
bout democracy
licensed to kill
dead in the street
Here’s what I think
FUCK THE POLICE!
don’t give a shit
bout you or me
don’t give a shit
bout democracy
licensed to kill
dead in the street
Here’s what I think
FUCK THE POLICE!

They be posted on the block
And there ain’t nothin to stop
The intimidation brought
The terrorism wrought
Cuz they backed by the state
And can never be wrong
Lest the people see the trait
Swarm the state in a throng
Like Ferguson, Missouri
In the streets for 90 days
But didn’t get attention
Until it was set ablaze
Don’t want to face the truth
Try to slip through the noose
Don’t RESPECT us lack ruth
Shoot our people kill our youth

It’s a God Damned shame
That I can rhyme their names
Killed so many of us
Hard to be more enraged
But we must remember them
Those taken by the system
In prison, enslavement, killed by police men
Body cams ain’t do shit
They just turn the fuckers off
In the streets fightin riot cops
Where’s my molotov
The institution
Police unions need to cease
Ain’t here for you and me
So, fuck the police

don’t give a shit
bout you or me
don’t give a shit
bout democracy
licensed to kill
dead in the street
Here’s what I think
FUCK THE POLICE!
don’t give a shit
bout you or me
don’t give a shit
bout democracy
licensed to kill
dead in the street
Here’s what I think
FUCK THE POLICE!

Objectives of the Workshops

To reveal to the participants in the program the power they already have within themselves.

This may mean the power to communicate, or the power to make a difference, or the power to tell a story, or anything else.

The facilitators in this program are resources for the participants to tap into to gain knowledge of and proficiency with tools and developing skills. The facilitators are not to approach this program with the perception that they are creating anything in the participants that does not already exist. The facilitators are not putting things into the participants, rather, they are there to help the participants to draw out what is already inside of them, to help them shape it, and to help them organize it.

Intellectually and emotionally process social conditions, and to continue the process of healing from trauma or traumatic experiences that have occurred in the lives of the participants.

This may either be achieve directly by specifically addressing particular events or indirectly through providing a positive outlet through which emotions can be channeled.

The participants are the directors of the productions, they are the creators, and will be the ones responsible for making the decisions about the content of the material produced. This is the practical application of the first objective, and it also provides protection from pushing an issue onto the participants that they may not be ready to address.

Whatever the content the participants select, the facilitator is to ask the questions “why is something important,” and “how does that make you feel,” and to seek to look at the content from different perspectives to foster a deeper understanding.

To produce a final project that brings the vision of the participants to life such as, a complete recorded song or album, a video, or a live performance.

The creation of art is deeply personal, cathartic, and expresses power. In addition, the final product is participant driven because the healing and processing component of the creation of art requires this for it to be the most effective.

All three of the potential final products are interrelated, but have different steps, skills, tools, and planning associated with them. They also tend to have differing audiences and levels of impact, so what the participants would like to achieve with their final product will help to direct what that product is.

Components of the Workshops (2 days = 1 Week)~10 Weeks

Introduction (1 day)

Writing/Voice (2 days)

Music/Beat Production (2 days)

Song or Poem Development (4 days)

Memorization/Recitation (2 days)

Performing (1-2 days)

Audio Recording (2-4 days)

Video Production (4 days)

Rocking A Show (2 days)

Tools

Depending on the scope, nature, and constraints of the program, as well as, the access to resources, the tools necessary and selected will vary. If there is access to full audio studio and video equipment, then those may be selected when there is not a concern that the participants will have issues continuing to create material after the program.

If the participants of the program would like to continue to produce material after the workshop and do not have ready access to the equipment needed for continued production, alternatives should be selected.

It is possible to download all the apps/programs necessary for both audio and video production onto a smart phone for free, and while the tools will not be as powerful as a full studio, they are vastly more than sufficient to create high quality material. (This is only an alternative, and it may not work if the participants do not have smart phones, so this must be considered as well.)

Music/Beat Production

Music Maker Jam

Groove Mixer

Audio Recording

Band Lab

Video Production

Adobe Clip (Photoshop)

Introduction

Introduction of facilitators, participants, and the program.

This may include a performance or display of material in audio or visual, such as poems, songs, or videos. If possible, the participants should be encouraged to display their work and talent as well.

This is a time set up to let the participants an opportunity to get to know who they are working with and vice versa. Perhaps, some history of how music and poetry came into their life and why it is important to them now.

It is also a time to get to know the participants, why they enjoy music or poetry, what they would like to do with it, and what they would like to get out of it.

This should be a time for setting the goals of the program.

What kind of product do the participants want to create? Do they want to create audio recordings, videos, or to organize a performance.

How much experience do they have and with what? What would they like help with?

Introduce the tools that will be used to create their material so that the participants can play with them and start to learn what they can do and how to use them; if there are tutorials they can access share them at this time.

There is no real right way to use any of the tools and the best way that I have found to learn any program is simply to play with it. Aside from the basics or how to get it started, my experience has been that most other instruction is not very effective until problems are encountered when attempting to do a specific function.

There will be time set up later in the program, during each particular phase for working through the programs and whatever instruction is needed throughout the process of creating. Initially, this is merely to give the participants access to the tools so they can have something to take with them and get familiar with.

Writing/Voice

Writing is the basis of both hip-hop and poetry and at the core of the writing is the voice of the author.

This session or sessions should be devoted to introducing the participants a few different styles of writing; for example, while hip-hop may be a little more constrained in its stanza formation and rhythm, poetry does not necessarily have to be. While hip-hop is traditionally a style that incorporates rhyming, poetry does not necessarily have to.

There is first person or third person perspective to consider. The consistency of tense; past, present, or future. The six basic questions to answer; who, what, when, where, why, and how of a piece of writing. The usage and power of metaphors and similes when discussing a subject. Is it a story, a description, an explanation, an apology, or a statement of fact?

What are the emotional cues and relevance of particular styles and how emotion works with words to convey the desired message.

Practice writing a few styles and putting together stanzas. The facilitator should come up with a few random prompts for the participants to exercise and play with. At the end of each of these sessions give the participants something to work on to bring back with them to the next session to share.

Each subject can be approached from several perspectives and can be approached with many styles. Each has strengths and weaknesses. For example, a first person perspective while powerful may not necessarily be able to adequately address something that bigger than just the individual, or in reverse, something in third person may not really be able address the personal.

These session will be focused on helping the participants select style, perspective, and to develop the voice of the piece so that it will best convey the messages they want to transmit.

Music/Beat Production

These sessions will be devoted to learning the music production software, and the layout of the instrumental aspect of a song.

The music can convey as much if not more emotion and intent as do the lyrics themselves. For example, is it fast or slow (excited or repressed), is the music bright or dark, happy or sad, is it scary or inviting; does it change?

Most hip-hop is in a 4/4 time sequence, with sixteen bars to a verse, 8 bars to a chorus; with two or three verses and choruses to a song. It is this sort of standard recipe that identifies how much writing needs to be done and how long the stanza should be. Then there may be bridges, intros and outros also added into the song, with breaks and beat drops to provide emphasis.

The participants will have had about a week or so to play with the software by this point, so hopefully they have some idea of how to use some of it. The facilitator should walk the participants through the basics of how to set up a drum line, bass line, and melody with the software.

The take home assignment will be to create a beat with the structure of a song

Song/Poem Development

Combining the writing and beat sessions, the facilitator should now focus on helping the participants to write to the instrumental.

The voice is like a percussive instrument similar to that of the hi-hat of a drum, thus, the rhythm of the syllables of the written words have a sonically pleasing space to occupy as a component of the music; this is called cadence.

The chorus is the thesis, or the underlying point of the song, and what many people will pay the most attention to. The chorus should be something that ties all the verses together and helps to make the song make sense.

If there are three verses, there could be two or four, regardless, each verse should have a function.

For example; let’s say there is a story, verse one can be scene one, verse two can be scene two, and verse three can be the moral of the story or what is learned from the story or why the story is important.

For example; let’s say it’s a description of a problem, verse one defines in broad terms the subject, verse two gets specific to a particular issue, and verse three tell why it is a problem or what can/should be done about it.

Aside from explaining the general structure of songs, the facilitator should really let the participants do their own writing and creation, and be present as someone who can answer questions or provide a sounding board. This will potentially be one of the most personal aspects of the entire process and is where the majority of the internal power of the participants will be developed and expressed. So, the less influence from the facilitator during this phase the better.

The bulk of the writing process will not occur during the facilitated session, but rather, in between sessions, so that the facilitator can help the participants revise their writing as they create their song.

Memorization/Recitation

Each facilitator will have different techniques associated with how to memorize their pieces

One suggestion is to work on memorizing line by line without the music at first and as each verse is memorized to then practice saying it with the music. The verse may need to be revised during this process because it may be discovered that breathing is difficult, or that syllables are hard to say in sequence with one another when performed.

When the piece is memorized, or as it is memorized in steps a major practicing technique is to recite it in front of others. When the performer is confronted with more thoughts than only the lyrics, such as, an audience those thoughts tend to interrupt the ability to recite and requires practice to manage the emotional impact of performing from memory.

This is often a long process and will mostly be homework for the participants.

Performing

This particular session will overlap with the memorization and rocking a show sessions, but it will be important at this point to discuss stage presence and how to move one’s body with the music and the lyrics because it impacts both focus and breathing. Part of this will include how to hold a microphone.

This session is also a segue into recording the audio and shooting a video

Audio Recording

These sessions will dive into how to use the recording software that the participants have been playing with for a few weeks.

The recording method that will be used is called “dubbing,” wherein tracks will be layered onto one another.

For example; Verse one will be recorded in entirety on one track and on another track specific phrases from the verse will be highlighted by recording them again, and lastly, depending on the verse “ad libs” may also be recorded on a separate track to give the song extra character.

The last component of audio recording is called “mixing” which is setting all the levels of the instruments and lyrics to give the appropriate space to hear everything clearly. Mostly this stage is about turning volumes up and down, but it can get a lot more precise with equalizers and reverb effects depending on the time constraints and desires for the final product.

Video Production

These sessions will dive into how to use the video recording and production software/equipment that the participants have been playing with for a few weeks.

A solid discussion with the participants about how to visually represent the material of the song within the budget of the program and participants to begin to develop a plan for how to create the storyboardof the video.

The storyboard details each scene, what will be required to successfully shoot the scene, and how all the scenes will fit together.

The next step is the shooting of all the scenes of the video

The editing process of the video will probably be the most time consuming component because this is where all the clips of video are put into time with the music that has been recorded. Much of the skill for this process will likely have been developed in the music production phase and working with that software. There will be medium specific things to deal with, but the concept of moving pieces around will be familiar.

Rocking A Show

Part of rocking a show is setting it up and promoting it.

The video will or can accomplish a lot of the promoting component, but there will also be an aspect of creating a flyer and informing people about the show. This will utilize both paper flyers and social media events and advertisements.

However, before the promotion of a show, a venue has to approve the performance, which entails both negotiation and contracts usually. So, there should be some discussion and practice with securing a venue to perform at.

Because the songs have been memorized and the video shot, much of the preparation for performing live will have already been accomplished. Returning to microphone control, watching cables, and stage dynamics, with a rehearsal or two; and the participants should be ready to perform if they want to.

Song Produced & Shared On My Phone Using Some of the Programs Listed Above

Summary and Benefits of the Hip-Hop/Spoken Word Workshop

The participants in this program will learn how to and develop the skills necessary to create and promote an album, to shoot a video, and to perform on stage. These skills will include writing, revising, teamwork, negotiation, contracts, editing, music productions, video production, recording audio, conceptualization, and project management which are all translatable skills into many fields. In addition to that, the participants will also learn how to use an artistic platform, which can be used as a positive outlet to process through their thoughts and emotions.

Depending on the scope of the project and how many songs and videos the participants want to create, the workshop should take between two and three months to complete. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do and moving much faster than that may not provide enough time for the participants to really grasp the programs and skills. In addition, many of the stages of the development of a hip-hop video is by its very nature creative, and that process may be longer than expected for different groups and individuals. So, setting at least two months aside to work through the program should be a sufficient amount of time for at least one or two songs being brought to completion.

That he had an equal opportunity with everyone else to do something different

He can never know that the wrong side of the tracks

was really red lines on a map

drawn down at city hall

That it was the National Housing Act of 1934

That laid the path for the rise of the ghetto,

urban farms, where it’s not crops that are grown,

but people, stock for cell blocks,

to subsidize markets locked

by inflation from free trade participation in a nation

that ain’t never done shit without enslavement

These are the things he can never know

He cannot know that poverty, like wealth is created

He cannot know that it wasn’t chance,

or a roll of the dice that planted him in impoverishment like cracks in the pavement

He cannot know that the ghetto is not inevitable,

that it is not unchangeable, that being poor is not a fate, not predetermined

but planned, scripted, constricted to particular segments of the society we live

Because should he ever learn these things,

then that is the moment we lose control of him

And we need a continuous supply of workers, strong, and ready to go

Who will accept never drawing a check,

never checking the drawing and asking,

did I ever actually have a chance to live?

Is having a shelf-life really living?

Knowing you are member to a group of human beings they call and endangered species, they, call me, an endangered species

I was never expected to live

Imagine the weight of a license plate like that

If it hung from your neck could you ever stand fully erect, would you perform to your best, if the best you could expect was to somehow slip detection or to die in prison, stamping the plates of future children who will be following your steps

Written in response to the “All Lives Matter” slogan and belief that has been a tactic of invalidation of the Human Rights and Civil Rights struggle, which the #BlackLivesMatter Movement embodies, this piece rips into the history of legislation, constitutional amendments, the rise of the prison industrial complex, and the impact these racialized systems of oppression, socially and legally reinforced, and how they harm People of Color.

The twisted and disgusting perversion of my declaring that my life has value and that I deserve respect merely by the fact that I am a human being, into something that is a denial of anyone else’s life having value and deserving respect is purely idiocy and ignorance, and extreme expression of #WhiteFragility and privilege. This system does not treat people all the same and the data that proves this is astounding, but one need only look at the laws and how they have been applied to perceive that this system is racist at its core

The boy with the stars in his hands, thought he had the future in his grasps
But as if he had cupped water it poured through his fingers as time to the past
& as he flipped over the hour glass he found a hole making time running too fast to handle
Gasping for breath from underneath of a strangle hold, of, what if, and what could have been, & But if onlys… trailed off into a whisper of what should have been…

When I was a child, when I was the boy gazing into the heavens blazing trails around the moon and between the stars and it seemed that all horizons were possible, and my parents told me with all the honesty that they could muster through the crusted lies, that I could be anything I wanted to be, that nobody was better than me, that as long as I had my eyes on the prize that no force on earth could ever stop me

All the while knowing the full breadth of the truth and how it would come crashing down upon me, crushing my ribs as it suffocated the last exasperated breath of hope from underneath my bruised and swollen chest, as the fight drained from my eyes like a lion that has been chained so long the bars on the cage were the extent of its visual range

You don’t do that kind of damage to a child who is but learning to spread their wings, because, although it seems improbable, and damn near, down right, impossible… that child might grow into the being that takes flight and ushers in a world of change